It’s official! By now you’ve heard that big things are happening in higher-ed. Earlier this year, the Department of Education (ED) met with the establishment of the Accreditation and Innovation Committee to begin the negotiated rulemaking process (Neg Reg). As of the beginning of April, the U.S. Department of Education’s negotiated rulemaking committee came to an agreement on all 50+ issues up for consideration.

Included in the new set of rules and regulations was a section specifically tied to Academic Integrity. What’s more, the newly worded regulation requires institutions to have processes in place through which they can establish that the student who registers in any course offered via distance education or correspondence, is the same student who academically engages throughout the entire course or program. While pins and passwords, as well as proctoring were once an acceptable means of authentication, THEY HAVE NOW BEEN REMOVED!

The good news is, if you’re one of the many institutions using proctoring, or pins and passwords, you still have time to find a proven solution like BioSig-ID.

The next steps for the Department of ED include producing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) which is typically a two-to-four-month process. Once the NPRM is produced, the feds must hold a public comment period, which has not yet been published in the Federal Register. Only after the public comment period is over, can the rules and regulations officially be finalized and put into effect.

Don’t be one of 100’s of institutions nationwide left out of compliance or scrambling at the last minute to find a solution. The writing is on the wall and it’s time for your institution to plan to remove proctoring and passwords as a valid method for authenticating distance education students.

Once finalized, the new regulations surrounding academic integrity will force both the Department of ED and accreditors to change any language addressing authentication for distance education students and place the responsibility for authenticating students squarely on the institution’s shoulders.

It’s time to get a head start on what’s coming. Biometric Signature ID is a proven solution that not only complies with these new changes, but also:

Provides you with detailed reports that are accreditation agency proven

Provides continuous authentications for any content that is conditional release